(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)
OSHKOSH – Community members will have a chance to shape the future of the UW-Oshkosh, Fox Cities Campus.
Winnebago County will host a public forum June 25 seeking community input as the county prepares to take over ownership of the 43-acre campus at 1455 Midway Road, Menasha, on July 1.
The forum is scheduled to run 5:30-7:30 p.m. at United Way Fox Cities, 1455 Midway Road, Menasha, and will seek the public’s ideas “regarding the future prospects for reinvigorating, repurposing, and redeveloping the buildings and outdoor spaces.”
The Winnebago County public forum will help shape the ‘county’s direction forward’ on the UW-Oshkosh, Fox Cities Campus.
“Considering the deep connections that many in the community have to the programs and facilities housed within the campus, this public forum offers the opportunity to share ideas regarding the county’s direction forward on the site,” the county wrote in a recent statement.
The facility’s future has been in doubt since last June when UW-Oshkosh announced it was closing the Fox Cities campus at the end of the school year as a result of enrollment decline.
Both Winnebago and Outagamie counties previously owned the land and its facilities before Outagamie County terminated its ownership agreement and agreed to terms of sale with Winnebago County.
The Weis Earth Science Museum collection is being donated to the History Museum at the Castle in Appleton while the Menasha Joint School District is set to operate the University Childcare Center.
The campus also includes the Barlow Planetarium, Communication Arts Center theater and gallery, and a branch campus building for UW-Platteville.
UWO, Fox Cities Campus, is the sixth UW campus to close.
The Fox Cities facility is the sixth University of Wisconsin campus to shut its doors amid budgetary issues and declining enrollment following the decisions to close UW-Platteville Richland, UW-Milwaukee at Washington County, UW-Oshkosh Fond du Lac, UW-Green Bay Marinette and UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha.
Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@gannett.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @justinmarville.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Winnebago County public forum on UWO, Fox Cities Campus, future set for June 25 in Menasha
Reporting by Justin Marville, Oshkosh Northwestern / Oshkosh Northwestern
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
